Tuesday, April 28, 2009

In case you missed the HOA meeting...

I do not have adequate words to describe the level of hatred I have for the Home Owner's Association here.

I hate it that I cannot park in front of my house. I know it's against a fire code. I know that it is for our safety. I don't care. I still want to park there. Get over it.

I hate it that even though the insurance premiums the HOA pays for will be going down considerably, our monthly payment will not. (Because the money needs to be saved for future projects such as roofing, repaving, etc. All things that will probably happen when I no longer live here, so frankly, I don't care about them. This probably makes me a big jerk, but I don't care. It's further proof that I am not ready for the Law of Consecration.)

I hate it that although the people running the HOA hold some opinions that represent the VAST MINORITY, they are the only ones actively participating in it, and therefore hold all of the decision-making power.

I hate it that I have so many intelligent, level-headed neighbors who could really make a positive difference, but they don't show up to the meetings, and therefore have no voice.

I hate the stupid guy who spent 20 minutes at this meeting complaining about the fact that his neighbor drives a car with a loud diesel engine, and who wonders if there is any way that the HOA will make a rule about this. SERIOUSLY??? You can't tell people what kind of car they can drive! If you are that annoyed, then just move. (But I guarantee that wherever you move there will be an even more annoying neighbor with an even louder car. Murphy's Law.) Should we really spend 20 minutes entertaining such a stupid idea? Am I the only one here with better things to do?

I hate it that the HOA president asked someone to TAKE PICTURES of people who do not have their dogs on leashes, or whose dog's poop is not cleaned up. And then plans on fining these people with $100 fees. Yes, I know that those are the rules. And I totally agree with and follow them. But whatever happened to just being a nice neighbor and just ASKING the guy to please put a leash on his dog so that he won't get a fine? (When I asked this, everyone said, "I wouldn't talk to these people unless I had a police officer with me. You don't know how dangerous they can be." I don't buy that for a minute. I really and truly believe that most of my neighbors are not violent people who would cause me physical harm if I tried to help them avoid a $100 fine.)I guarantee that whenever I see the tow truck, I run outside and start banging on doors to warn my neighbors that their car is about to be towed. (Probably much to the chagrin of my across the street neighbors who have more than once seen me running around late at night like a rabid madwoman in ugly pj's and Where's Waldo glasses panting, "Is that your car? Is that your car getting towed?") I think it's the decent thing to do, and I wish that someone had done that for us when our car was towed.

Yes, the HOA committee is just following the rules. I guess the main problem here is that I really just don't want to live where there is an HOA. I want to live in a house where I can plant a whole bunch of ugly plants all over the place, paint my front door florescent orange, let my dog run around and crap everywhere, and park diagonally in the middle of the street if I feel like it.

5 comments:

Thanks for going! I wanted to attend, but Gabe had his first T-ball game tonight, so we were otherwise engaged.

I understand your point of view, however I have also had issues with LOTS of dog poop, and people parking in my driveway...behind my car to avoid getting towed. So I guess I can play the devil's advocate a bit. However, I choose to just talk with my neighbor/neighbors about stuff like this, rather than having a 20 minute rant at the HOA meeting. Sounds like that guy wishes he had no neighbors AT ALL! I mean is he really that scared of the people that he probably shares drywall with!That sucks about the HOA fee not going down, between that and Social Security we are screwed! :)Yeah the HOA is there to enforce rules,I get it, but they do a lot of good too. The whole embezzlement thing is a good example. That Kevin Guy (accused embezzler) was such a jerk, he accused Nick and I of owing a whole bunch of money from before we even owned our townhome, he would never take calls only respond through email, and obviously he was not being honest. I am really glad that our HOA board demanded the books, that is huge gold star in my book. That being said, I too look forward to the day when I answer to no HOA. I'll be there next time, we can boo the ranters together! :)

AMEN!!! We were out of town so we couldn't attend the meeting but let me tell you, Erik and I are so pissed off about everything too! Living here is such a joke, we just can't wait to move. Next time they have a meeting, let's all work together to get EVERYONE to attend because you are right when you say that those who are active are the minority.

I'm with you. I get it. It sucks to be on the HOA board, because really, what are you gonna do? And everybody hates you? And you have to be the bad guy, so I feel for them. BUT I hate that I live in a place where I can't do what I want and my neighbors care so dang much what I do. Someday I'll have a real house with HOA, but in the meantime I'm glad to live in a nice neighborhood with nice people, and a nice green lawn. I'm torn.